Pages

Friday, October 31, 2014

Not the one next week. The one in the College in which faculty voted on whether to adopt a diversity requirement in the undergraduate curriculum.

According to the Daily Bruin:

The UCLA College faculty approved a diversity requirement proposal for the College of Letters and Science Friday afternoon. In a 332-303 vote, faculty decided to support the requirement, which would have students take a course about inequalities based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religion, among other factors. Students would be able to fulfill the requirement through a general education course, an elective or upper division course. UCLA College faculty began talks about a diversity requirement more than 25 years ago. Since then, official proposals for a requirement have failed twice – once in 2004 and again in 2012. About 46 percent of eligible faculty members voted this week, compared to about 30 percent in 2012 and about 20 percent in 2004... The new requirement would apply to all first-year students in the College of Letters and Science enrolling in 2015 and all transfers beginning in 2017.

This story aired on Season 2 of Rod Serling's beloved
macabre TV masterpiece Night Gallery
entitled “The Caterpillar.” Based on a short story by British author Oscar Cook (1888?-1952) and
written by the master himself (Mr. Rod Serling
of course), it aired on March 1st 1972 and featured the cast that included
British actress Joanna Pettet,
renowned Lithuanian-born actor Laurence Harvey
(October 1st, 1928-November 25th, 1973) and the awe-inspiring English
stage, film & television actor John
Williams (April 15th, 1903-May 5th, 1983); directed by famed French
film/TV director Jeannot Szwarc.

There is concern within the UC hierarchy about faculty renewal, i.e., new hires replacing older faculty, and the related issue of faculty diversity - which depends on having new faculty FTE to fill. The chart above refers to UC-Berkeley, but a similar chart for UCLA would undoubtedly show the same thing. The early retirement incentive programs of the early 1990s (the three"VERIPs") dropped the number of older faculty (who took advantage of the incentives). Since that time, the faculty has tended to age. Note that the impression that the pension plan is threatened, even though not a reality for any current older faculty, may play a part in reluctance to retire. The same concern about retiree health benefits - more of a reality - may also play a part.

Note further that even if aging of the faculty were somehow reversed, a second element in renewal and diversity involves recruitment and retention of new faculty as replacements for retirees. The current lag in faculty pay (including benefits) relative to comparison institutions creates a challenge on that side of the equation.

State Controller John Chiang has a new option on his website for tracking state and local pension data. Under "state," he includes UCRS along with CalPERS, CalSTRS, and two plans for judges. So, although the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) continues with the notion that the UC pension is not a state plan, the controller is willing to state the obvious (as can be seen above).

It appears from a piece in the LA Times that UCLA may be closer to losing its baseball stadium at the VA:

Mediation between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the
American Civil Liberties Union has failed to resolve a long-running
dispute over leases on the sprawling West Los Angeles campus. Tenants
on the 387-acre property include a private school, a laundry service
for nearby hotels, a parking lot operator and a UCLA baseball stadium. In
a 2011 lawsuit filed on behalf of veterans with post-traumatic stress
disorder, the ACLU challenged the legality of those agreements, arguing
that VA real estate should be used to house homeless veterans. The VA
argued that the leases produce revenue for healthcare. A U.S.
district court judge ruled in August that the VA had abused its
discretion in issuing the leases and gave the agency six months to
enforce his judgment... Both sides appealed to the 9th Circuit, which sent the parties to mediation. On Tuesday, the court issued an order calling for opening briefs in the case. Mediation was officially over...

A brouhaha is developing at Berkeley - where there were recent celebrations of the 1960s Free Speech Movement - over an invitation to TV personality Bill Maher to speak at a December graduation ceremony. A student group has protested that Maher has made anti-Moslem remarks on his program. Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks has said, however, that the invitation stands:

UC Berkeley’s administration is insisting that a campus speech by
Bill Maher will proceed as scheduled in December despite opposition from
students who say the offer should be rescinded to protest what they
allege were anti-Muslim statements by the political satirist. Citing
Maher’s right to free speech, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks
said in a statement that “the invitation will stand, and [I look]
forward to welcoming Mr. Maher to the Berkeley campus." The
statement noted that the decision “does not constitute an endorsement”
of any of Maher’s views although it supports the television
personality’s right to express them. “More broadly, this
university has not in the past and will not in the future shy away from
hosting speakers who some deem provocative,” the statement said...

The current student regent, Sadia Saifuddin, who has supported the anti-Israel divestment movement, is quoted at the above link:"I believe there is a fundamental difference between free speech and
hate speech as well as a difference between Maher being allowed to
express his views, and being given the honor of giving the keynote
address sponsored by the university … I don’t stand for any
university-sponsored action that makes students feel unsafe and
unwelcome.”

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Chancellor Block is quoted in a Wall Street Journal piece on online education:

...If massive open online courses, or MOOCs, become more prevalent “all
of a sudden you have a new reverse digital divide,” Gene Block, the
chancellor of the University of California in Los Angeles, said at the WSJD Live global technology conference. He said that students from wealthy families will continue to send
their children to residential four-year colleges, where they learn in
the classroom, and in interactions among students and between students
and faculty. But community colleges or other non-residential
higher-educational institutions are at risk of getting usurped by the
MOOCs, he said...

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Posted Oct. 28, 2014

Santa Monica Mirror

UCLA
officials announced today the creation of a $15 million
"self-replenishing fund'' to support energy efficiency projects, such as
the installation of motion-sensor light switches to water-saving
plumbing fixtures. The announcement makes UCLA the 46th institution in the nation to
join the Billion Dollar Green Challenge, which was created by the
Sustainable Endowments Institute to encourage universities to pursue
energy-efficiency projects.UCLA officials said the university has already invested $20 million in such projects...The fund will be created with bond financing and not involve any student tuition or fee money.UCLA's previous sustainability projects include the installation of
occupancy sensors that turn off lights in empty rooms and hallways;
retrofits of heating, ventilation and cooling systems; and replacements
of old light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs. The new fund will be self-replenishing, with savings realized by the
energy-efficient upgrades injected back into the fund for future
projects.... Half
of the savings... would go back into the revolving loan fund
until that million is paid back. People realize these projects aren't
just an expense, they're an investment. The university will be conducting an annual energy audit of campus buildings to identify future projects to fund.

In an earlier post, we noted a campaign by animal rights activists to discourage student research, as reported in the Daily Bruin.* Now a faculty member, David Jentsch,** writes an op ed response. [excerpt]

...A recent Daily Bruin article, “Animal rights activist groups target student vivisectionists,” which was published on Oct. 23,indicates that animal rights groups are trying to target students who participate in life science and medical researchat universities in the U.S. and the U.K.that involvesexperimentation
on animals. They are opposed to this research, despite the fact that it
is crucial to medical progress, well regulated and ethically
justifiable. Having failed to use reason and civil debate to adequately
advance their ideas with the broader public, they now quite cynically
opt to offer rewards to those who expose student researchers, thereby
enabling the intimidation and harassment of those identified. Their obvious goal is to harass you out of your studies and research
and to prevent the future that will lead to new therapies and cures of
tomorrow. I know their tactics well, because for more than five years, animal
rights activists have worked day and night to suppress my voice and my
research that deals with the causes and treatments for addictions. They
firebombed my car. They sent me razor blades in the mail. They have
harassed me and my loved ones with endless home demonstrations, where
they scream their threats and obscenities. They want to ensure that I am
unable to express my humanity, my ideas and my work. They believe theirright to speak stands above thoseof others. All Bruins should unanimously reject such hateful behavior...

Monday, October 27, 2014

In prior posts, we have expressed the hope - which seemed to be supported by remarks by Chancellor Block - that the new state affirmative consent law would not lead to yet another training program for faculty on sexual harassment/assault. Pressure for such policies is coming at the federal level. An article on the Chronicle of Higher Education suggests that more training programs are on the way:New federal rules
issued on Monday aim to make campuses safer by requiring colleges to
train students and employees on preventing sexual assault, dating
violence, domestic violence, and stalking. The rules also include new
categories for identifying hate crimes (gender identity and national
origin) and specify that students can choose advisers, including
lawyers, to accompany them in campus disciplinary proceedings...

Colleges are required to provide training to faculty and staff members
as well as students. The training must clearly define terms such as
"consent" and outline campus policies on sexual misconduct...

The CalSTRS board was told this month that financial experts are
forecasting investment earnings of 7 percent a year or less during the
next decade, below the 7.5 percent assumed by the pension fund. If the new forecast turns out to be correct, long-sought legislation
in June that phases in a $5 billion CalSTRS rate increase over the next
seven years could fall short of the goal of projecting full funding in
three decades.

It’s even possible that with new power granted by the legislation
the California State Teachers Retirement System board could, in three to
seven years, add another rate increase for the state and school
districts to get full funding back on track. The new forecast from eight consultants and five asset managers also
casts a shadow on the 7.5 percent earnings assumptions of the
California Public Employees Retirement System and the UC Retirement
Plan...

Our traveling UC prez keeps signaling - inadvertently or not - an interest in a post-UC national career.

Former homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano is supporting
executive action by President Obama to change immigration policy if
Congress fails to pass a broad overhaul, citing what she calls her
successful 2012 push to delay deportations of many younger immigrants. “If
Congress refuses to act and perform its duties, then I think it’s
appropriate for the executive to step in and use his authorities based
on law . . . to take action in the immigration arena,’’ Napolitano, a
lawyer and former U.S. attorney in Arizona, said in an exclusive
interview with The Washington Post. Napolitano spoke ahead of a
speech she is scheduled to give Monday in Georgia in which she will
publicly detail for the first time the sometimes heated internal
administration debate over the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) program...

Inside Higher Ed carries a report on the union representing graduate teaching assistants and its internal debate over an Israel boycott:

United Automobile Workers 2865 represents 13,000 graduate student
workers – mostly teaching assistants – across nine University of
California campuses. And while the union is no stranger to political
activity – it advocates for the rights of undocumented students, for
example – it focuses on and has won advances on student worker
employment and quality of life issues, such as paid parental leave,
class size and pay. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that a planned December vote on whether
the union will join the academic boycott against Israel has some members
concerned...

Opponents within the California graduate student union say the boycott
goes against a previously stated UAW position on the Israel boycott, is
anti-academic, and would ultimately hurt the California graduate student
union and others like it. Proponents, meanwhile, say that joining the
boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) movement against Israel is a
moral and intellectual obligation...

The 80-some member joint council of the graduate student worker union announced its support for the academic boycott this summer, saying a union-wide vote was forthcoming...

(S)ome union members say there was little tolerance for dissenting opinion
at the meeting. Two separate proposed statements – one supporting a
two-state solution between Israel and Palestine and one saying Israel
has the right to self-determination – were voted down. Another proposal
to extend the boycott to other countries accused of human rights
violations, including China, was tabled...Karra Greenberg, (a) member of Informed Grads, who is studying
sociology at the Los Angeles campus, said it was problematic that union
leaders had proposed the boycott during a small meeting in the summer,
when many graduate students were away. Especially concerning about the
initial announcement was the mention of educators’ “responsibility” to
talk about Palestinians’ struggle for “liberation from
settler-colonialism and apartheid,” she said. Greenberg said that suggested the union may be “encouraging students to
teach undergrads the merits of BDS.” She said that violated university
policy, could raise questions about the legitimacy about UAW 2865 within
the greater union, and provided fodder to critics of organized labor
who say that it’s too political...

(UC Provost Aimee) Dorr said
the university’s position on academic student employee conduct was
“rooted” in the Regents’ statement on course content and others similar
in spirit. Dorr also referenced the UAW unit contract, which says that
decisions regarding “who is taught, what is taught, how it is taught and
who does the teaching involve academic judgment and shall be made at
the sole discretion of the university.” ...

Sunday, October 26, 2014

The item above in the Daily Bruin of July 15, 1969 announced what would eventually lead to the Internet. Although an announcement in the Bruin may not seem like much fanfare, given the later history, the story did make the front page (as can be seen below).

Federal officials were mum today about what led them to raid two
marijuana dispensaries, one in West Hollywood and another in Westwood,
whose staff claimed they were operating within the bounds of
California’s medical cannabis laws. The raids by the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration happened Thursday at two dispensaries
operated by the same company, known as The Farmacy, said Vijay Rathie,
special agent and public information officer for the DEA’s Los Angeles
field division. He said no details were immediately available about why the dispensaries were targeted...

Bill Kroger, the lawyer for The Farmacy’s owners, denied any wrongdoing on the part of his clients...

Friday, October 24, 2014

When it comes to litigation regarding college athletes (such as the O'Bannon case involving a former UCLA athlete), there seems to be no end to the lawsuits testing whether scholar-athletes are de facto employees.

The legal attacks on the NCAA and its limits on what athletes
can receive while playing college sports have been spread across a much
wider front with the filing of a lawsuit that names the NCAA and every
Division I school as defendants. The suit — filed
this week in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, where the NCAA is
headquartered — alleges that the NCAA and the schools are violating the
wage-and-hour provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The allegations are framed by the schools' employment of students in work-study positions that pay hourly wages...

Our compatriots at UC-Santa Barbara have received a donation of $65 million. The Good News is that they are spending it on physics research and resisting the urge to spend it on a Grand Hotel. (There is no Bad News; UC-SB has its priorities straight.)

It looks like the next culture clash is on its way to UC via CSU. Maybe we would do better with a "don't-ask; don't-tell" approach. Or just "don't-ask."

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship members say they just want to spread
the word, to provide a welcoming space for believers and non-believers
alike on college campuses that sometimes can seem cold and isolating. But
because it requires its leaders to hold Christian beliefs, the
evangelical student group said, it now is fighting to preserve its
religious soul and very existence. Chapters of InterVarsity and
some other Christian groups were stripped of recognition at California
State University campuses this fall because they refused to sign a
non-discrimination policy requiring clubs and organizations to open
their memberships and leadership to all students. (Fraternities and
sororities still can limit membership by gender.) ...It appears that trouble also may be looming for its University of
California chapters. UC spokeswoman Shelly Meron said the system — which
now does not specify that leadership positions must be open to all — is
reevaluating the language it uses to charter campus organizations...

The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) has put out a series of charts related to the state budget. Above is one of the charts. The Master plan era - which also featured increased baby boomer enrollments and related funding - came to an end in the early 1980s as the effects of Prop 13 (state bailouts of local governments especially school districts) were felt. Since then, the story has been one of a downward trend. Note that "higher ed" includes community colleges which are covered by Prop 98 and its protections. UC and CSU are not so-protected.